Daily Sports Roundup: June 18

Today in the Daily Sports Roundup: The Nationals play host to the White Sox, while the United States takes on Slovenia and England battles Algeria in World Cup action.

Chasing the World Cup . . .

It’s Germany vs. Serbia, Slovenia vs. the United States, and England vs. Algeria on the World Cup schedule for Friday. The Americans (EVEN) will be looking to build on their 1-1 tie with England when they take on Slovenia (+260) on Friday (draw odds are +230); Slovenia beat Algeria 1-0 in their tourney opener. England is pegged as the -500 favorite against Algeria (+1200), with draw odds of +500, while Germany is at -167 against Serbia (+450), with draw odds of +265. Germany pounded Australia 4-0 in their first game of the World Cup, and Serbia was blanked 1-0 by Ghana last game.
Meeting up on the diamond . . .

The Angels and Cubs will meet in interleague action at Wrigley Field on Friday afternoon, with Los Angeles’ Scott Kazmir (6-5, 5.27 ERA) set to take on Chicago’s Carlos Silva (8-1, 2.89 ERA). Lefthander Kazmir is back on track for the Angels, having picked up victories in each of his last three starts. Kazmir beat the Dodgers in his last trip to the mound, giving up just two earned runs on three hits over his five innings of work. Righthander Silva was tagged with his first loss of the season in his start against the White Sox last game despite giving up just two runs in seven innings.

Stephen Strasburg (2-0, 2.19 ERA) will look to stay unbeaten when the Nats host the ChiSox on Friday, while the rest of the MLB schedule has Milwaukee at Colorado, Arizona at Detroit, the Mets at the Yankees, Cleveland at Pittsburgh, Minnesota at Philadelphia, San Francisco at Toronto, the Dodgers at Boston, Tampa Bay at Florida, Kansas City at Atlanta, Texas at Houston, Oakland at St. Louis, Baltimore at San Diego, and Cincinnati at Seattle. Johnny Cueto (6-1, 4.50 ERA) will take on Cliff Lee (4-3, 2.88 ERA) in that Reds/Mariners matchup. Righthander Cueto beat the Royals last game despite surrendering five runs over his six innings pitched. Lefthander Lee is coming off a loss to the Padres in which he allowed three runs over seven innings.

Rounding out the Roundup . . .

Finally, the WNBA schedule for Friday has Seattle at New York, Tulsa at Minnesota, Connecticut at Los Angeles, and San Antonio at Phoenix. The Silver Stars (3-6 straight-up, 3-5-1 against-the-spread) will be looking to bounce back from a 90-83 road loss to Atlanta in their last contest; Sophia Young had 24 points for San Antonio in that contest. The Mercury (5-5 SU, 4-6 ATS) thumped Tulsa 116-84 in their last game, with Diana Taurasi and Candice Dupree each pouring in 18 points for Phoenix.